Advantages & Disadvantages of Fluoride in Drinking Water

Reviewed By: Pramod Kerkar, MD, FFARCSI

Fluoride is known to be used in systemic and topical fluoride therapy so as to prevent decay of tooth and it is found in several products that is related to oral hygiene. In some states where big, centralized water delivery system is rare, fluoride is added to table salt. On the other hand, the majority of water supplies in the United States of America are now fluoridated. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of fluoride in drinking water in the following array of the article.

Advantages of Fluoride in Drinking Water:

Below are some of the advantages of fluoride in drinking water.

Fluoride in drinking water may be useful in preventing tooth decay. It is believed that fluoridated drinking water can reduce cavities significantly and also tooth decay up to 90%.

As per The WHO or World Health Organization, the benefits of fluoride in drinking water or water fluoridation are best for the economically poor individuals, who frequently do not have access to sufficient effective dental care.

Disadvantages of Fluoride in Drinking Water:

Though it may seem that fluoride in drinking water can be of some good benefit, there are a lot of concerns about fluoride and here we have mentioned some of the disadvantages of fluoride in drinking water.

Fluoride may have a health risk to individuals who suffer from kidney disease and extensive use of water fluoridation actually make it hard to avoid.

Excess of fluoride might cause spots on the teeth of children. As per a CDC study, 2 out of 5 adolescents have tooth spottiness or streaking due to excessive fluoride. In severe cases, teeth can even be rutted by fluoride.

Many clinicians share a concern that this mineral may play a role in all common symptoms of low thyroid functions like weight gain, fatigue, cold hands and feet, irregular bowel functions, dry skin, brain fog etc.

There are also concerns that fluoride in drinking water may have increased risks to thyroid and liver.

There are also some links of fluoride treatment to cancer. Fluoride treatments in male rats are associated with bone cancer. So, this may also be cons of fluoride in drinking water.

There have been some data that show excess fluoride use is associated with weakened bones, especially the hip joints.

Conclusion:

Many countries have been adding fluoride to water for many years. However, several countries in Europe have banned the mineral from their drinking water. Water fluoridation also poses great risk, especially in the infants and the elderly, as they may be more susceptible to changes in the fluoride levels and must be watched closely.

So, even though there may be some advantages of fluoride in drinking water, there exists a lot of disadvantages as well and thus there must be some steps taken to remove fluoride from your drinking water via various filtration methods such as distillation, reverse osmosis, alumina defluoridation, etc; which can help you get rid of most unwanted impurities.